The Great Christ Comet
Page 35
FIG. 10.15 A section of the frieze from the Arch of Titus in Rome commemorating the Roman conquest of Jerusalem. Note the trumpets to the right. Image credit: Yonidebest and Steerpike, Wikimedia Commons.
The comet at this time would have been around 90 degrees long, stretching across half the sky. Having played the part of Sagittarius’s arrow that slayed the Scorpion at the end of August, the gloriously bright comet may have seemed to assume a new role to mark the beginning of the new Jewish civil year and the Feast of Trumpets. The long-tailed comet may well have looked to observers like an awesome celestial trumpet, with the coma being the mouthpiece (figs. 10.16–20).41 During the whole time from sunset to moonset, the Moon may have appeared to observers to be playing the part of the trumpeter blowing into the trumpet’s mouthpiece, proclaiming Rosh Hashanah and the start of the civil New Year. It may have appeared to be drawing the world’s attention to the exaltation of Virgo—enthroned, wearing her crown, enrobed with the Sun, and with the Moon as her footstool. This might go some way toward explaining why the scene of Virgo’s exaltation on September 15, 6 BC, is highlighted in the narrative of Revelation 12:1–5.42 So spectacular would the celestial sight have been that some might have felt constrained to conclude that the marvel was announcing not just the start of a special month or the inauguration of a new civil year, but also the beginning of a whole new era in world history.43
FIG. 10.16 A wood engraving of the trumpet-like Great Comet of 1843 on March 17, as observed from Blackheath, Kent. At the time, this comet was in a position relative to the Sun and Earth—0.7 AU from the Sun and 1 AU from Earth—similar to that of the Christ Comet on September 15, 6 BC—0.47 AU from the Sun and 0.93 AU from Earth. At the peak of the 1843 comet’s performance, on approximately March 9, 1843, it was 0.5 AU from the Sun and 0.86 AU from Earth. From George F. Chambers, The Story of the Comets (Oxford: Clarendon, 1909), fig. 48 plate 14 (opposite page 132).
FIG. 10.17 Halley’s Comet in 1910. Image credit: Patrick Moore Collection, www.patrickmoorecollection.com.
FIG. 10.18 A photographic drawing of Halley’s Comet on May 15, 1910. Image credit: Patrick Moore Collection, www.patrickmoorecollection.com.
FIG. 10.19 The Great Comet of 1680 over Nuremberg Observatory, Germany. From Simon Bornmeister, Cometen Betrachtung (Ulm: Scheurer, 1681). Image credit: Royal Astronomical Society.
FIG. 10.20 The Great Comet of 1618 as portrayed on the cover of Jacob Cats, Aenmerckinghe op de tegenwoordige steert-sterre (Middelburg, The Netherlands: n.p., 1619). Image credit: Google Books. Image enhanced and colorized by Sirscha Nicholl.
In view of the large Jewish population in Babylon, the Magi could have become aware of the coincidence of the celestial phenomenon and the Jewish calendar date. This may even have played a role in prompting them to appreciate that the cometary apparition had a particularly Jewish significance.
Perihelion
Since the comet was now coming close to the Sun and hence was more exposed to the solar wind and radiation pressure, its coma shrank in size.44 The visual effect of this in the sky was exaggerated because the comet was getting farther away from Earth. At the same time, the comet’s brightness was building—not only was the apparent magnitude becoming progressively more impressive, but the smaller surface area of the coma was intensifying the brightness. In addition, as the comet began its slingshot around the Sun, the tail shortened as more and more of it moved behind the Sun, from Earth’s perspective. This also intensified the brightness of the tail. All of this meant that the comet would have been an increasingly magnificent “evening star” in the days following September 15, although the fact that it was getting closer and closer to the Sun meant that it became increasingly difficult for humans to see the coma.
On September 23, as the comet was 0.2 AU from the Sun and beginning its hairpin turn around the solar disk, it found itself between Mercury and Venus. Venus, the comet, Mercury, and Earth were essentially in a straight line in that order. At that time the comet’s 50+-degree tail would have been a striking feature in the evening sky, its last part only setting about 3 hours after sunset.
Between September 25 and 27, the nucleus was extremely close to the Sun from the perspective of Earth—within 4 degrees. Moreover, because the comet was essentially behind the Sun, the apparent length of the tail would have been relatively short. On the 25th, the end of it would have appeared for a brief time after sunset. However, no part of the comet would have been visible on the 26th.
According to our orbit, it was on the 26th, just before sunset in Babylon, that, from Earth’s perspective, the comet shifted from the west side of the Sun to its east side. Because of this, when it reappeared, it would be a feature of the eastern morning sky. It was around this time that the comet crossed its ascending node, that is, passed from south of the ecliptic plane, on which Earth orbits the Sun, to north of it.45
The comet had its perihelion on September 27.46 As with all comets, its speed on its orbit was greatest at perihelion, when it was midway through its astonishing U-turn around the Sun (fig. 10.21). Because the comet was coming so close to the Sun, just 0.119 AU away from it, the comet’s activity may have increased dramatically from this point on.
The end of the comet’s approximately 14-degree-long, intensely bright tail briefly reemerged over the eastern horizon shortly before sunrise on that day. The comet as a whole (not the coma) had started to rise heliacally; the scepter was beginning to emerge over the eastern horizon. The nucleus was at this point just 2 degrees from the Sun and so the coma and the sunward side of the tail were probably not detectable.
FIG. 10.21 The Christ Comet at perihelion on September 27, 6 BC. Image credit: Sirscha Nicholl.
The comet was about 40 degrees long in the run-up to dawn on September 28. The comet’s apparent magnitude was at least -15.5! (Remember that the full Moon’s magnitude is -12.6.) The end of the very bright tail, which stretched back as far as Mars in the hind part of Leo, would have begun rising 3½ hours before dawn. It would have been a striking sight. Part of the gloriously brilliant coma might theoretically have been glimpsed in advance of the rising Sun, although the comet nucleus was still very close to the Sun—about 5½ degrees from it.
Based on Revelation 12 and Matthew 2, however, we suggest that the coma was probably not spotted in Babylon or Judea at this point. This, of course, may be readily explained by the coma’s proximity to the Sun and/or disadvantageous atmospheric conditions, whether because of cloud cover47 or sand and dust in the atmosphere.48
Nevertheless, such was the intense brightness of the area around the nucleus that those under clear skies who shielded their eyes from the Sun might have been able to see it at some stage through the day.
Virgo’s Baby
What occurred from September 29/30 to October 22 in 6 BC was surely one of the most amazing astronomical phenomena in history: each morning, in the time leading up to sunrise, as Virgo’s womb rose over the eastern horizon, the cometary coma played the part of Virgo’s baby in a magnificent celestial birth scene to mark the nativity of the Messiah.
The Baby in Virgo’s Womb
In the immediate run-up to dawn on September 29, when the nucleus was 0.15 AU from the Sun in outer space and just over 8 degrees from the Sun in the visible sky, and the comet had an apparent magnitude of at least -14.8 (see table 10.2),49 the coma, or at least part of it, could have been spotted by observers in clear skies. The coma was very low in Virgo’s womb and edging higher. The comet, with its long tail sticking up near-vertically, would have been about 65 degrees in length, making for a truly grand spectacle. It looked like a magnificent scepter (see Num. 24:17: “a scepter shall rise”).
Magnitude Slope
(value of n)
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on November 21–28, 8 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on February 5, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on
May 29, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on August 17, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on September 30, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 29, 6 BC, if first observed on December 10–17, 7 BC
3
-14.1
-13.9
-12.9
-11.8
-11.5
-11.2
4
-18.4
-18.2
-17.0
-15.8
-15.4
-14.8
5
-22.8
-22.5
-21.1
-19.8
-19.3
-18.6
TABLE 10.2 The Christ Comet’s apparent magnitude on September 29, 6 BC.
To those able to see it through the daytime, the condensed brightness of the part of the coma around the nucleus may well have been a stunning sight. Not only was the comet’s apparent magnitude surpassing that of the full Moon, but its surface brightness would probably have been greater than that of the full Moon. The coma in length was possibly a little less than the Moon’s diameter. Any glimpse that the Magi might have got of a very bright occupant in Virgo’s womb during the day would certainly have grabbed their attention and whetted their appetite for what was to follow. But observers would have struggled to get a good look at it, because it was still so close to the Sun.
FIG. 10.22 The location of the Christ Comet’s coma (the small white oval) in Virgo’s womb on September 30, 6 BC. Image credit: Sirscha Nicholl.
When the cometary coma rose over the eastern horizon on September 30, some observers like the Magi were evidently astonished that it looked like a glorious and perfect baby within the womb of Virgo (fig. 10.22).50 The comet had moved farther from the Sun, with the result that the coma was appearing in a darker sky—it was now 10 degrees in altitude at sunrise. The oval coma at its longest would have been about the Moon’s diameter.
The baby would have seemed to be head-down. The cometary coma had transformed Virgo, making it look like she was well into a pregnancy. It would have been natural to reflect on recent celestial history for a narrative explanation of the conception; the recent clothing of Virgo by the Sun may have seemed to provide the obvious cause.51
The coma was probably regarded as having heliacally risen (i.e., it was first spotted by the Magi on the eastern horizon, rising in advance of the rising Sun) on September 29 or 30 (see Matt. 2:2 and Rev. 12:1–2). In view of the intensity of the brightness and the large size of the comet’s coma and tail (in historical terms), and the shape and location of the coma, what a heliacal rising it was! And, to top it all off, at that moment, for the first time the entire cometary scepter was visible standing up over the eastern horizon (fig. 10.23).
FIG. 10.23 The Christ Comet on September 30, 6 BC. The comet as a whole, looking like a scepter or rod, stretches up almost to the zenith (as shown by the altitude-azimuth grid in the background). Image credit: Sirscha Nicholl.
It is astonishing that the heliacal rising of the cometary coma in Virgo’s womb, the first view of the entire (heliacally risen) cometary scepter, and the visible peak of the whole comet’s brightness all occurred in conjunction with the start of the great Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was arguably the most joyful and important annual festival in the Jewish calendar and was celebrated on Tishri 15–22 (counting the Eighth Day as part of it). In 6 BC, if the new Moon was spotted on September 14, Tishri 15 coincided with September 29, but if the first sighting of the new Moon occurred the following evening (September 15), Tishri 15 was September 30.
The Feast of Tabernacles was an occasion of thanksgiving for the harvest and of prayer for the autumn rains to fertilize the land; a time to remember the exodus and wilderness wandering; and a week to look forward to the coming of salvation and the conversion of the nations in connection with the coming of the Messiah. In addition to making special offerings and hymns, the priests made a procession around the altar of burnt offering once daily for six days and then seven times on the seventh day. As they processed, they called out for Yahweh to bring salvation (Ps. 118:25).
During the festival, priests would draw water from the Pool of Siloam and then pour this water into a container at the base of the altar. It was a symbolic gesture, calling out for Yahweh to send the waters to enliven the land. Isaiah 12:3 may allude to this rite, implying that it had a spiritual significance, looking forward to the water that would at the time of the end be drawn “from the wells of salvation.” According to John 7:37–38, Jesus claimed to be the giver of true spiritual water during the Feast of Tabernacles.
More important for our purposes, during this festival, indeed at the close of the first day of it, four golden candelabras were lit in the Court of the Women, giving light to all of Jerusalem. The rationale for this was presumably eschatological—Isaiah had prophesied that “the people who walked in darkness” would see “a great light” (Isa. 9:2), referring to the great cometary light that would announce the birth of the true Immanuel, the Messiah (7:14).52 That the cometary coma rose heliacally, appearing at its stunning brightest, at this very time is astonishing. Of course, John records that, during the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus, obviously alluding to the lighting ritual and indeed Isaiah 9:2, made the claim, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). In view of what had happened during the Feast of Tabernacles in 6 BC, Jesus’s words would have been especially forceful.53
The Magi may have discovered the correspondence between the Star’s heliacal rising and the Feast of Tabernacles from the Babylonian Jewish community.
As magnificent as the scene of the heliacally risen comet obviously was, the marvel was, in truth, only starting. For, as large as the coma (facing the full blast of the solar wind and the intensity of the Sun’s radiation pressure) and the tail were at that point, they were actually small compared to what they would become.
Each day, the comet was moving farther away from the Sun both in outer space and in the sky, with the result that the coma was seen earlier and against a darker sky.
Every night, as more and more of Virgo rose over the horizon before dawn, the comet scepter appeared larger and longer. The comet tail’s steady increase in length meant that it was appearing over the eastern horizon earlier and earlier in the night. On the evening of the 29th, the comet was about 78 degrees long and began rising about 5 hours after sunset. The following morning it was already 84 degrees long. By the evening of the 30th, the comet was about 94 degrees long and began to rise less than 4 hours after sunset. When predawn observers around that time followed the tail upwards to its end with their eyes, they were basically looking up straight above their heads. With the majestic scepter extended over them, the Magi may well have felt that the king represented by this comet was destined to exercise sovereign authority even over their own land (cf. Ps. 110:1–2).
As for the comet’s coma, because it was located in Virgo’s womb, its growth made it seem that the pregnancy was developing normally.
The growth in the size of the comet was because it was at its most productive and was emerging from its hairpin turn around the Sun, exposing more of its coma and tail to Earth-bound observers. It was also because the comet was steadily moving toward Earth, amplifying the apparent size of the coma and tail. Moreover, the coma was increasingly being liberated from the constricting effect of the Sun, causing it to become larger.
FIG. 10.24 The Christ Comet nucleus’s slow progress through Virgo from the perspective of Earth from September 30 to October 20, 6 BC. The slight rise coincided with the growth of the coma, so that the coma looked to be relatively stable within the womb. The drop (relative to the rising fixed stars of Virgo) constituted the baby’s descent and birth. Image credit: Sirscha Nicholl.
It is interesting to look at the range of possible
apparent magnitude values for September 30 and October 3, 6 BC (tables 10.3–4).
Magnitude Slope
(value of n)
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on November 21–28, 8 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on February 5, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on May 29, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on August 17, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on September 30, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on September 30, 6 BC, if first observed on December 10–17, 7 BC
3
-13.6
-13.4
-12.4
-11.3
-11.0
-10.7
4
-17.7
-17.5
-16.3
-15.1
-14.7
-14.1
5
-21.8
-21.5
-20.1
-18.8
-18.3
-17.6
TABLE 10.3 The Christ Comet’s apparent magnitude on September 30, 6 BC.
Magnitude Slope
(value of n)
Apparent Magnitude on October 3, 6 BC, if first observed on November 21–28, 8 BC
Apparent Magnitude on October 3, 6 BC, if first observed on February 5, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on October 3, 6 BC, if first observed on May 29, 7 BC
Apparent Magnitude on October 3, 6 BC, if first observed on August 17, 7 BC